U.S. Department of Education official named National FFA Organization's national advisor

U.S. Department of Education official named National FFA Organization's national advisor

The U.S. Department of Education has selected Dr. Steve A. Brown as national advisor of the National FFA Organization and chairman of the national FFA board of directors.

Brown is now responsible for providing catalytic leadership for FFA and will serve as chairman of the board. He’ll also advise national FFA officers, delegates and committees on policy matters and serve as an ex-officio member of all FFA committees. Brown will also review all applications for the American FFA Degree, awarded to students who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to and accomplishment within FFA.

An educational program specialist in agriculture, food and natural resources sciences with the U.S.

Department of Education in Washington, D.C., Brown had served as national FFA executive secretary since 2008. In that role, he provided leadership for FFA and agricultural education while coordinating activities between the FFA’s board of directors and the National FFA Foundation’s board of trustees.

“It is a distinct honor to be named the advisor of such an important, significant and historical organization as FFA,” he said. “FFA is the nation’s premier leadership development organization for students pursuing careers in the agricultural industry and I look forward to helping guide FFA into the future.”

With more than 30 years of service to agricultural education, Brown has served as the Missouri state FFA executive secretary, district supervisor in agricultural education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and an FFA advisor at Macon Area Career and Technical Center in Macon, Mo., where he taught agricultural education.

Originally from Orrick, Mo., he received his doctorate in agricultural education and both his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He and wife Rhonda currently reside in Alexandria, Va., and have have four daughters and three grandchildren.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Steve Brown with his wealth of agricultural and educational experience championing our mission,” said National FFA Organization CEO Dwight Armstrong. “He is firmly committed to the students we serve and our organization as a whole. We look forward to great things to come.”

Formerly known as Future Farmers of America, the National FFA Organization provides agricultural education to more than 523,000 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,487 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.